Bring you back
by DeathBallerinaAmy
Summary: To bring you back, I would do anything, to bring you back I would... ShadTikal, SonAmy.-Edit- Just fixing storyline.-
1. Default Chapter

**A story based around Tikal. Truly, I never saw myself writing this, but it's cute and that's all that matters right? Y'know if I think correctly, Tikal was my favourite character right after Amy, until I started coupling Sonic and Amy. Tehe!**

**And for anyone who's super picky, Tikal maybe a spirit but she was herself on the end of SA and that's enough for me! Oh and this is probably based around say umm... after SA2? As usual! Tehe!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic characters in anyway. The song belongs to Avril Lavigne. The song is _I'm with you_. It stops short.**

He didn't know why he was running around so late, the thrill of the darkness he assumed. But a lot had changed since the Ark incident, maybe not as much as he thought, only one week had passed. The sky was lit brightly with the light from the full moon, the stars seemed to glow exceedingly beautiful within the darkening night. He was running through the forest, many shades of green and brown meshed into the surroundings as he picked up speed. He was Sonic The Hedgehog. Sonic tried very hard to hide any of his feelings, it took him a long time to actually believe Shadow had died. Now he guessed, he was trying to get over it, in his own way. Running for him was like drawing or writing, it let him think.

Sonic stopped, now this was a rare occasion. But, he could hear music. It sounded like a violin playing.

He was in the forest of the Mystic Ruins and quickly manoeuvred around the maze and down the mine cart track to follow the music. He raced out the exit of the mine cart and stopped yet again. The music was still there. He shook his head, maybe he had lost it or something, he shrugged and ran over to a large hole in the wall near the Train Station. He swiftly jumped into the tunnel and ran until he was over a huge hole, but instead of falling, an air current picked him up and sent him to a different tunnel. He raced through the dark tunnel, it was too dark to see anything but he didn't need to see where he was going, he was following the music.

He came to the end of the tunnel and everything seemed to change, he was looking straight ahead at the small island part that held the Master Emerald but... It was still connected to the bigger island that Sonic was standing on. Then, he saw _her_. She was standing on the side of a stone bridge, he had seen her before, it was Tikal.

_'I'm standing on the bridge, I'm waiting in the dark. I thought that you'd be here, by now. There's nothing but the rain, no footsteps on the ground. I'm listening but there's no sound.'_

She was watching the waterfall close to the bridge and slowly swaying left and right.

_'Isn't anyone trying to find me? Wont somebody come take me home? _

_It's a damn cold night. Trying to figure out this life.  
Wont you, take me by the hand, take me somewhere new? I don't who you are, but I... I'm with you. I'm with you.. Mmmm.'_

_I'm looking for a place, I'm searching for a face, is anybody here, I know? 'Cuz nothings going right, and everything's a mess. And no one likes to be alone._

_Isn't anyone trying to find me? Wont somebody come take me home? _

_It's a damn cold night. Trying to figure out this life._

She turned her head and saw him, she instantly stopped singing and an awkward silence came between them.

"Hello." She blushed and looked away, Sonic walked over to her.

"You're really good at singing Tikal. Hey, you know, we're having a party over at Rouge's umm... Do you want to come" He held out his hand and she looked at it for a moment and smiled. "Sure, thank you Sonic." She blushed and took his hand. With a bit of his help, she jumped down from the side of the bridge and almost fell onto her face but he caught her around the waist. "Careful." He smiled and she nodded and faced away so he couldn't see her face becoming a darker shade of pink.

"Okay see you there, it's in two days. Oh, do you know where Rouge lives" he asked and she shook her head, no.

"No problem, I'll pick you up on the night okay" Sonic smiled and as soon as Tikal nodded, he raced off. "See ya"

**Two Days Later**

It was around 4 pm, Tikal was slowly drifting around near the Train Station, she wore a dark purple bandana and a long sleeved blue shirt and a long purple skirt that went to her ankles, she also wore dark blue sandals. She linked her hands behind her back and swayed slightly, waiting for Sonic the hedgehog who was due to turn up any minute. At just that moment, Sonic came off of the Train and jumped clear off the high platform and landed right in front of Tikal.

"Hi, sorry I'm late." He smiled and Tikal raised her hand in greeting. "No problem." She chimed.

"Ready to go" he asked and she nodded happily, he suddenly picked her up all bridal style.

"Hold on" He grinned and Tikal squealed with excitement as he began running.

"Wow" She held onto her bandana with one hand and had her other hand wrapped around Sonic's neck, she looked around with amazement as their surrounding began to blur. If anyone saw them, they would probably look like a blue, purple and orange blur.

In mere minutes he stopped and they were in front of Rouge's club, he carefully set Tikal on her feet and she stumbled a bit before regaining her balance.

"Wow, thanks Sonic." She smiled and he gave her a thumbs up.

"No problem" He grinned, showing no signs of exhaustion from running so far so fast. Tikal felt envious, and maybe something else.

The streets were getting quiet, since it was after school hours, there were only a few people walking around from after their jobs. One amongst the people of which was watching the blue hero ever so carefully, it crept over to a dark alley and spied on them, shortly after it moved yet again until it was right behind Sonic.

"Hey! Sonic" She screamed with glee and instantly tackled Sonic, he almost lost balance but regained it before hitting the ground.

"Uhh Hey Amy." Sonic smiled but he looked a bit concerned and looked a bit around before focusing on the pink one, it seemed she was ready for the party as well, she wore a long red dress with spaghetti straps and a matching purse and shoes.

She let go of Sonic and spotted Tikal, Sonic taking advantage at this moment, ran inside. Amy was about to yell after him but decided against it and faced Tikal.

"Ooo competition." She grinned and walked inside, Tikal tilted her head as a chao would when it was confused, because she was very well confused. She didn't want to try figure out anything right about now, it was time to party after all.  
Tikal walked to the door and opened it, music was blaring loudly and she almost jumped back in shock at it, Sonic was yelling at Rouge and pointing to the thing making the loud racket. Tikal stepped in and let the door close by itself, Amy was already cuddling up to Sonic and Rouge walked over to the box thing and turned a knob on it, the music started to quiet down.  
Tikal sighed in relief and looked around at the others, she saw Cream and her chao's Cheese and Chocola happily taking their hands off their heads and begin to talk to each other. Big was sitting nearby Cream with his friend Froggy on his head, he opened his mouth to say something but suddenly forgot it and kept the look on his face that he was trying to think but nothing was going through. Tails was happily toying away with a small thin box thing with a name on the side saying 'Game boy Advance SP'. The guardian known as Knuckles was leaning against the wall near the door and Tikal decided to greet him first, she approached him and smiled.

"Good evening Knuckles, how are you doing" She asked and the echidna shrugged and looked to the door. "It's too loud here, if it gets any worse, I'm leaving... By the way, why are you here" Knuckles asked, both of them not really noticing his sentence was put rather cruelly.

"Sonic invited me." Just as Tikal said that, the music began its loud racket again. Knuckles yelled something and threw his hands in the air and walked out, Cream and her chao's held their heads again and Big kept that blank look on his face. Rouge was bouncing around and stopped when Sonic yelled something again, she raised her middle finger at him and continued dancing. Amy stepped over to the music box and pushed a button, the music stopped completely and everyone except Rouge sighed in relief. Amy held a microphone in her hand and grinned.

"Karaoke Time" She yelled, the speakers making her voice even louder. "Who wants to go first? No one? No one" Amy asked again and again, Tikal tilted her head when Amy pointed to her. "Tikal! Come on" Amy motioned for Tikal to step up beside her, Tikal nodded nervously and walked up beside the hyperactive hedgehog. "Umm Amy..." She asked quietly, Amy held her hand over the microphone and leaned over to her"Yea" She asked.

"What is Karaoke" Tikal blushed and Amy stared at her for quite a while.

"... Geez..." She sighed and pointed to a television"See that? You watch that and words appear on it, you just sing the words along with the beat, into this thing." Amy said and pointed to the microphone, Tikal nodded a bit, it made a little sense, might as well try it out. "Sure, I will try my best." Tikal smiled and Amy handed the microphone over to her as music began to slowly play, Tikal looked to Sonic and he nodded with a smile, Tikal nodded and turned to watch the screen.

Amy happily cuddled up to Sonic, he sweat dropped and tried to move but she had him pinned. Rouge smiled and resisted the urge to laugh or insult Tikal's knowledge of karaoke, she was stuck, it was a modern song she didn't know. Rouge walked over to the confused one and held out her hand to the microphone.

"Here Tikal, I'll take it for you." Rouge smiled and Tikal smiled brightly in return"Thank you Rouge, I was stuck there." Tikal handed the microphone over and Rouge instantly began singing to the song, everyone had to admit, she was really good at it. Tikal stepped aside and looked among her friends, Cream, Tails, Cheese and Chocola all looked like they were enjoying themselves. Big was just watching the television, not too sure on what everyone was clapping about. Amy was still cuddling up to Sonic, that's when what Amy had said made sense. Amy was in love with Sonic and Tikal was getting stuck in between them, sure, Sonic didn't show he cared for her back but it was kind of obvious to any girl of what he truly felt.

"Oh my.." Tikal murmured and quickly ran outside, not many of them noticed, except Sonic. Outside it was getting cold but Tikal really didn't pay attention, she looked to the sky and sighed loudly, he's so perfect of course he would have someone else...

Tikal sighed again and began walking down the side walk, the wind hissed cruelly down the street and it seemed clouds had joined the gloomy event as well. Her sandals made a slight clicking sound on the pavement, Tikal stopped and heard another click somewhere nearby. She turned around but saw only the street behind her, she started walking again and heard that second clicking. What was it? It wasn't behind her, it was somewhere else.

Suddenly, Tikal bumped into someone.

"Oops! Sorry si" She stopped mid sentence as she looked upon a black hedgehog that resembled Sonic somewhat as most hedgehogs would, he had glaring crimson eyes and reds stripes on his quills, arms and legs.

"Umm hello, sorry.. I wasn't watching where I was going." Tikal smiled, rather flushed and embarrassed and was about to walk past him but the hedgehog grabbed her shoulders and continued to glare at her. She started to get scared by this dark hedgehog.

"I need your power." He said in an empty echoing voice, Tikal noticed that she could see straight through the hedgehog.

"Ah! You're a ghost! How can that be! Stay away" She yelled and struggled in the hedgehog's grip, he didn't let go. His face neared hers and she tried to back away but still to no avail, his lips brushed against hers gently and he smiled demonically. He quickly pressed his lips against hers and a strange connection started between the two.

'It is the only way I can live again, do not fight me.' His dark voice whispered in her mind, Tikal felt herself becoming weaker and slowly begun to get sleepy. She wasn't going to fight, she could feel his soul dripping with pain, she closed her eyes and let her power be taken. 'Maria... The Ultimate Life form... The Eclipse Cannon... For all the people on that planet... I promise you... Revenge!' Thousands of thoughts and memories passed through her in mere seconds, it all suddenly stopped as she quickly lost consciousness.

"Tikal" Sonic had just opened the door to the club and spotted Shadow laying Tikal gently on the ground, He ran over to him. "What did you do to Tikal" Sonic demanded and the dark hedgehog smirked and clenched his fist. Shadow looked down at Tikal for a moment.

"Thank you." He muttered and turned and quickly sped off.

"Hey! Get back here Shadow! What did you do to Tikal" Sonic shook his fist in a threatening manner but soon decided he should find out what was wrong with the echidna before going off to catch Shadow. He knelt down to Tikal and lifted her head off the cold pavement... Didn't Shadow die at Ark? How is it he was still alive? The door to the club opened again and Tails stepped out, he gasped and ran over to them.

"What happened! Is Tikal alright" He asked but Sonic shook his head, he didn't know. "We should get her somewhere safe." Sonic muttered and Tails nodded. "But where's a safe place" Tails asked himself and then smiled with a slight 'hmm', Sonic looked at him. "Oh no... Not _that!_ Anything but _that_"

**A few minutes later**

"Sure! Tikal can stay over at my apartment." Amy smiled, definitely oblivious to what had happened earlier. Cream and Cheese were having fun with the microphone and Sonic laid Tikal on a bunch of cushions, Amy looked around the club, almost everyone had left. "So like, what's wrong, did she faint or something" Amy asked and Sonic shook his head. "I don't know." He replied sadly.

"Uh huh..." Amy muttered and looked at Tikal"I wonder when she'll wake up.' She thought.

"Hey Cream! It's time for us to get back, you can go home tomorrow and Tikal's coming too." Amy yelled to the rabbit, Cream and her chao's all looked disappointed but the chao's flew over to Tikal and soon agreed it was time to go as well.

"Okay let's go everyone, Sonic" Amy yelled at the blue one"You'll have to carry Tikal." She smiled and slowly he nodded, probably expecting more. He lifted Tikal off the Cushions and Amy held the door open, Cream and her chao's walked out and Sonic also exited the club, carrying Tikal of course. Amy soon got in front of the group and led them to where she lived.

**Inside Amy's Apartment**

Amy's whole apartment was like a party area, pink was everywhere. Decorations sat here and there in a bizarre mix in colours to seem like it was always a happy cheerful place to be. It was. Amy directed Sonic to a guest room she had, Sonic took note of how many pictures of Amy were around the place, she was always smiling, always happy. He laid Tikal on a bed in Amy's guest room, this whole room was pink as well. Cream and her chao's quickly scurried in and stood beside the bedside to look at Tikal.

"Good night miss Tikal." Cream whispered and the chao's nodded, they quickly and quietly ran out again. Sonic sighed and walked out of the bedroom, Amy was standing nearby and she walked up beside her blue hero. "So... What happened to her" Amy asked and Sonic shrugged with yet another sigh, Amy wasn't let down so easily and she didn't think Sonic should've either. "Cheer up Sonic! Whatever happened I'm sure it wasn't your fault" Amy bounced up and down in emphasis to cheer up, Sonic rolled his eyes and smiled. "Okay, thanks Amy. Well, I'll come by tomorrow to check up on her, so see ya tomorrow." Sonic waved slightly before speeding right out of the apartment.

**The next morning**

"humm nmm." She murmured quite sleepily and rubbed her eyes with a balled up fist, she yawned and slowly looked around at her surroundings. It was some time in the early morning as far as she could tell from the sunlight just barely streaming through the curtains, she stood up and walked to the door and peeked out, no one was up yet and the strange design of this place had her baffled. Where was she? She walked into a living room, it had two dark pink couches and a coffee table between them, there were two windows to her right with pink curtains, the carpet and walls were both pink as well.

"Miss Tikal! You're awake" A small rabbit known as Cream ran up to Tikal and smiled in greeting, two chao flew up beside her and lifted their hands in hello in unison.

"Um.. Hello... Can you tell me where I am" Tikal asked, looking over the strange area again and again.

"Oh no! Don't tell me you have amnesia miss Tikal" Cream squeaked in her high pitched voice and Tikal shook her head.

"No, it is just, I have never been here before... That is all." She smiled and the chao's both smiled and circled her legs, Cream sighed in relief.

Tikal tried to understand what she was feeling just then, she felt a strange amount of sensations, her legs felt like they wanted to collapse, her arms needed to move and her neck had the strangest feeling on it. 'Grrr' A hollow growl rumbled from somewhere around the top of her skirt, Cream giggled.

"Are you hungry miss Tikal" She asked and Tikal tilted her head. "What" She couldn't understand it, for over 200 years she had been a spirit and never had she been hungry, what was going on? Unless... Losing her power meant...

Tikal closed her eyes and concentrated, nothing happened... She was... A normal echidna!

**Dun Dun Dunnn! Tikal's a normal echidna! And what is Shadow up to? Find out next time. **


	2. Love!

**Warning: SonAmyness to a mighty degree! Watch out ShadAmy fans! I warned you. Hehe.**

**Disclaimer: Sonic and all related characters do not belong to me**.

Tikal felt like the whole world was spinning, she stumbled and leaned on a nearby chair. "So... I am alive... Again..." She smiled through all the confusing thoughts rushing throughout her mind, all these familiar yet long forgotten feelings just felt so weird! Her left shoulder felt cold as fresh blood was rushing to refresh her numb hand, she must've slept on her shoulder. Cheese and Chocola looked up at her with worried looks and Cream came up beside Tikal. "Are you okay miss Tikal" She asked innocently, Tikal nodded slightly and regained her balance.

"Yes, I am fine. Perhaps we should get something to eat, it seems I am very hungry." She said and the chao's cheered in unison to second the idea, they all went to the kitchen with Cream leading the way.

The kitchen was in the same style as the bedroom and lounge room, all of it pink, except a lighter pink than the other rooms.  
"Amy told me about you, she said you're a spirit, how does that work miss Tikal" The little rabbit asked and looked up for a moment and back to Tikal. "I am not sure if I am a spirit anymore." She replied and smiled, was this such a bad thing?

Just then, Amy entered the kitchen from behind them, stopping for a moment to yawn and stretch. She stopped and looked around at everyone packed into her kitchen, Cream jumped onto a high stool and raised her hand in hello. "Good morning miss Amy, did you sleep well" She asked politely and Amy replied with a slow nod, she looked over to Tikal and smiled.

"Hey! You're awake, that's good, hey" Amy hit her fist into her open palm and grinned"Now I can tell Sonic the good news and while I'm at it I'll ask him on a date" She quickly ran out and Tikal looked to Cream for some type of explanation, Cream was staring silently at the empty doorway and soon noticed Tikal's staring.

"Yes miss Tikal" She asked innocently.

"Is she always like that" Tikal asked and Cream nodded with a slightly bothered look on her face.

"Yes... But... I think maybe Sonic um... It's not my opinion." The rabbit said and soon the enthusiastic hedgehog happily hopped back into the kitchen and opened the fridge, scanning through it quickly, she picked out something and ran out yet again. "See ya later guys" She yelled and the front door slammed shortly after.

"..." Tikal tilted her head and so did the chao's, a question mark popped above their heads. "Umm... Well we can go home today; come on Cheese and Chocola, let's go home." The rabbit hopped off the stool and the chao's flew up beside her head. "Goodbye miss Tikal." She said and the chao's raised their hands and waved, Tikal smiled and waved back as they exited the kitchen.

**Somewhere around Station Square**

Sonic was leaning against a red grind rail and noisily enjoying a chili dog; nearby, a figure was closing in. It snuck closer and closer until it was only a few meters from the blue hero and suddenly broke into a run, he instantly noticed the movement and swallowed the last of his food.

"Sonic" Amy squealed and wrapped her arms around his neck, he stepped back a bit and regained his balance and looked to the pink one.

"Hey Amy; what's up" He asked and she instantly forgot she had something important to report. "Let's go on a date Sonic" She chimed and He sweat dropped.

Um... How's Tikal" He inquired and she quickly let go.

"Oh that's right! Tikal woke up, she's fine" She smiled, Sonic nodded. "That's good." He said and she quickly hugged him again.

"...

Are you going to let go anytime soon" He asked. "Nope" She giggled and he smirked.

"Oh really" With that, he sped off, faster than ever before.

"Whoa" Amy squealed and tightened her grip on him, although; going so fast, it was difficult.

"Where are we going" She couldn't help but yell, he turned to look back at her and kept that smirk on his face.

"If you can hang on, you'll see" He faced away and she grinned, so it was a challenge. She linked her hands around his neck as he continued with his running; then, her grip began to loosen! Bit by bit her hands were losing their grip; just as her hands were about to let go, Sonic took hold of her hands in his and began to slow down. He finally stopped and Amy's shoes touched the soft, deep grass surrounding the area to which they were at.

"Welcome to... Well; I don't think it has a name." He chuckled, Amy looked around, it was beautiful! There was a waterfall right in front of them and lush grass everywhere, flowers grew nearby large trees and tropical plants covered the ground wherever you could attempt to walk. Amy's left hand slid to her side as she slowly turned around to look at the scenery, she stopped short when she noticed, his right hand still held hers. She looked down at their linked hands and Sonic followed her gaze, he quickly let go and faced away with a slight cough.

Amy felt a bit giddy, Sonic and herself were... Holding hands! It felt so magical, so brilliant. She was still facing him, well his back and slowly walked up beside him.

"Oh Soooniiiic..." She giggled when he turned to her, was he blushing? Sonic was blushing!.. So he was only a bit pinkish and it quickly faded, who cares! She tackled him and they both fell to the ground; into a soft patch of grass. He could've easily thrown her off but... He didn't.

"Sooniic." She murmured, he had his eyes closed.

"Sooniic." She repeated, he raised an eye ridge but kept his eyes closed. Her face neared his and she slowly rubbed her nose against his; his eyes opened immediately and she giggled with a slight blush spreading across her cheeks. His left hand moved up and began brushing through her hair.

"Your hair's a mess." He chuckled; he gently pushed her off and sat up, Amy was obviously disappointed. She sighed and crossed her arms; he chuckled again and stood up. As soon as she stood up, Sonic leaned towards her and gave her a small kiss on the cheek, then he sped off. Amy was left dazzled but snapped out of it from dust flooding her face, she quickly chased after the blue hero.

"Sonic Hedgehog! Don't think you can get away with kissing me and not letting me return it"

**Amy's Apartment, 7pm**

Tikal was laying down on the couch, her stomach growling loudly every few minutes.

"I ate lunch you silly stomach; don't expect me to cook dinner too. I should wait until Amy gets back." She strangely answered her stomach and let her hand dangle over the edge of the couch, her other hand relaxed on her face; how long had she been there?

The front door opened and closed quickly, someone ran up to the back of the couch; Tikal slowly looked up, it was Amy.

"Oh, Amy; you scared me." Tikal smiled and sat up, the hedgehog rested her head on the back of the couch.

"Hm." She probably attempted to say something but failed and just kept a dreamy grin on her face. She sighed and tried to speak again but it was muffled by the couch.

"Um... Amy? Should I cook dinner? It is getting late." Tikal murmured and the hedgehog nodded. "Oki doki." She said as if she was half asleep and kept a silly grin on her face. Tikal slowly got up and made her way to Amy's kitchen, she walked over to a high cupboard and opened it. "Hm.. I wonder what I should cook" She muttered to herself and looked at the items on the shelves for quite a long while, she closed the cupboard and moved onto the fridge. "Hm.." She smiled as she saw quite a few vegetables in the bottom of the fridge, she picked out two potatoes, a tomato, a stick of celery and a few other vegetables.

"This will be perfect for soup." She dug around in a few lower cupboards until she came across a medium sized pot. "Perfect" She smiled.

**Later**

Amy was lying on the couch on her stomach and still swooning over Sonic's little kiss; but her thoughts were interrupted by a delicious smell wafting throughout the apartment. "Mm... What's that" She got up and slowly walked into the kitchen, Tikal had set two bowls on the table with a spoon on one side and fork on the other side of the bowl. Amy walked over to a seat and sat down, Tikal turned around from the stove with a pot full of the mixed vegetables.

She placed the pot in the center of the table and grabbed a ladle from beside the stove and scooped a large amount of soup into Amy's bowl and then into her own; she sat down in front of her bowl and smiled at Amy. "Enjoy." She said and Amy nodded, definitely.

Amy seemed to get back to normal as they finished their dinner, well... After three servings anyway.

Amy stood up and put her spoon down. "Okay! I'm full... Time for bed I think." She smiled and Tikal nodded and exited the kitchen, Amy soon followed. Tikal entered her temporary room and closed the door, the light was off but a small amount of moonlight shone through the slight gaps in the window blinds, making the room a rosy pink and slightly dramatic.

She covered her mouth as she yawned for a moment, she kicked her sandals off her feet and pulled the covers back on the bed. Loud wind hissed around outside and the window slid open, letting cold air pour into the room. "What" Tikal looked to the window and froze in place... It was Shadow The Hedgehog again. He was standing with his back to her but his head slightly turned so she could see his piercing crimson eyes in the moonlight; she didn't move from the side of the bed and just waited for him to say something.

"I'm... Sorry... For taking your power." He said and looked outside the window; Tikal felt slightly relieved and sighed silently, she stood up straight and slowly walked up behind the mysterious hedgehog. "It is... Quite alright... But I am just curious... Why did you take my power" She asked quietly and he turned around and stared at her for a long while then looked to the ground.

"I couldn't bring her back..." He muttered and closed his eyes, Tikal jumped as the blinds fell to the floor.

"Who" She asked and he sighed in despair; wind whipped around the room violently, making it seem even more dramatic.

"..." He looked out the window again. "An old friend of mine." He muttered and she nodded.

"You said her name before you died... Maria." Tikal whispered, he looked at her with a bit of shock but smirked and nodded. "Right... I forgot you were dead once."

"...

I was the one that ended your life." She looked to the floor and he stared at her for quite a long time. "What" He finally managed to mutter; She sighed and closed her eyes.

"As you were falling from Ark, I heard you say her name and... I took your spirit from your body... So it wouldn't hurt... When you died." She murmured and opened her eyes, with only a bit of courage, she looked to the black hedgehog; he looked quite stunned.

"You can do that" He asked and she smiled.

"I could when I was a spirit; but it seems when you took my powers I just became a normal echidna and you... Lived once again." She said and motioned her hand to herself then to him; he nodded.

"I took your powers. But... If you had that kind of power; does that mean"

"No. I don't know where I got that power but I know that others cannot use it." She instantly replied and he sighed, he turned to the window and walked up to it.

"... Where are you going" She asked; he shrugged and looked to the ground from the window.

"I'm not sure; home I guess."

"... May I come"

He looked back at her and smirked. "Sure; why not" He held out his hand and she slowly took it.

**Morning**

_Knock knock knock_

"... Humm mmm..." Amy stirred, her room was quite a distance from the front door but she could still hear if anyone knocked, because in her apartment; everything echoed. "Tikaaal... Can you get the door" Amy muttered but knew it was far too quiet for the female echidna to hear, she looked at the pink digital clock beside her bed... 5 am. Who in their right mind would be up this early?

She yawned and stood up, she was still in her white nightie but was too sleepy to care and trudged through to the lounge room.

_Knock knock knock_

"Coming..." Amy yawned yet again and sleepily stepped up to the pink front door, she opened it and yawned again before seeing...

"Sonic" She squealed and jumped forward and hugged him, he chuckled, THEN noticed what she was wearing.

"Umm Amy" He gulped and she looked up at him with stars and love hearts in her eyes. "Yes" She inquired; he swallowed hard and took a deep breath.

"Can you... Change into something more decent" He asked and she slowly looked down, her face turned a bright red. "Ah! Um. Be right back" She ran off into her apartment; Sonic chuckled and entered the apartment and slowly made his way into the lounge room, he sat down on one of the couches. Why was he here?

Orange arms appeared from beside him and Amy nuzzled his cheek, he chuckled yet again and she grinned deviously. "Hey you know what" She asked and he looked straight at her.

"What" He raised an eye ridge and she giggled.

"I get to return that kiss now" She excitedly replied and pressed her lips against his before he could say anything. She felt tingles go down her spine as his arms circled her waist and slowly stroked her back, all the tingling sensations made her shiver and giggle a few times before they finally parted.

"Kind of out of the subject but how's Tikal so far" He asked, she turned to look behind her into the hallway where there was two closed doors, the one on the left side was Tikal's and the right was Amy's.

"She cooked dinner last night, it was delicious. But with the racket I made running to my room, I thought she would've been up by now." She replied" Hey Tikal! Are you up" Amy yelled and they paused for a moment to try and hear anything... Not a sound.

They both got up and Amy walked ahead and opened the door to Tikal's room, she poked her head in for a moment and turned and looked at Sonic.

"She's gone."

Sonic walked up beside her and looked into the room, there was a note on the bed. It only had a few words...

_I have to go.  
Thank you for letting me stay Amy.  
Tikal_

**Ark**

Tikal slowly approached the large window, the world below looked remarkable as clouds passed over continents and it slowly spun for everyone to experience night and day; She smiled at the view as Shadow slowly walked up beside her.

"Maria and I used to watch Earth from here..." He muttered.

"You still can." Tikal said and he looked at her, she turned to him and smiled gently. "As long as you have her in your heart; you will always be together." She reached forward and put her left hand on his shoulder.

"Remember all the good times you had together and if there isn't many of those... You can make more." She said and he looked away.

"How can I? I'm immortal, everyone will die eventually and I can only watch..." He muttered and sighed; she still kept a gentle smile on her face.

"Then enjoy the time you have with everyone, if it is limited; then your memories with them will be priceless." She said and he smirked.

"Alright then." He leaned forward and she blushed as their lips met, this time, something else was between them.

Love.

**Thank you for your patience for this chapter everyone! Oh and well... In SA, Tikal took everyone to the past and such so I thought.. Yea, I hope you liked it!**


	3. Chaos

**I got an idea so fast! And I can't help it, thank you for reading everyone!**

**You know what's so fun about putting Tikal in a story? She olden times so she speaks full sentences! Isn't that cool? You know like no using shorter words like can't. (Well that's my theory anyway...)**

**Disclaimer: Sonic and all related characters do not belong to me.**

Tikal rubbed her eyes with a balled up fist and yawned as she walked up to the window that her and Shadow looked out at the Earth everyday, she looked out at the amazing blue Earth below and gasped.

"Shadow!" She was wide awake now and quickly ran out of the room, calling the black hedgehogs name every few steps.

A door down a long hallway opened and Shadow walked out, he looked at her as she grabbed his wrist.

"What is it?" He asked and started following her as she pulled along.

"There is something wrong! The Earth! It is..." She ran up to the window and he quickly walked up beside her. "What?!" He stared in shock at the planet below... The Earth; was absolutely covered in water, there was no land in sight anywhere.

"..." They stared in silence at the blue covered planet below, until Shadow saw something.

"Wait... What's that?" He pointed to a faint glow of green around the north part of the world, Tikal took a while to see it but nodded as she did. "That looks like the glow of the... Master Emerald." She muttered and they looked at each other for a moment, they nodded to each other and quickly ran off in direction of the shuttle dock.

**Later, in a Spaceship, a few miles above the water.**

"How could have this had happened?" Tikal asked and sighed as she stared out the side window of the spaceship, Shadow was handling the controls and watched the water below, searching for any sign of... Anything. He gazed ahead and looked back at her.

"Tikal, look." He said and pointed ahead as she walked over to him; Angel Island. A bright green glow inluminating the whole area, making everything look a light shade of green.

"Well... There doesn't seem to be any space to land. Prepare to jump." Shadow set the controls on auto pilot and stood up.

"You not serious are you?" She asked, worry and slight fear spreading across her face; he smirked and nodded.

"Oh dear." She murmured as he grabbed her hand and lead her to the emergency exit door, he gripped the handle and turned it; the door flew straight off into the winds of speed to which they were travelling. Tikal covered her eyes and Shadow wrapped his arms around her waist and leapt out of the ship.

She felt like her stomachs fluids were crawling and her feet were dangling and trying to touch the ground that they were nearing. "Hold on." he said and she opened her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck, she looked below them and closed her eyes again. Shadow landed on a large tree branch for a moment and jumped off sideways to lighten the impact; they landed onto rough dirt and rolled down onto soft grass and slowed down just to land in front of a tree on their backs.

Shadow began to laugh; Tikal looked at him.

"Why are you laughing?" She breathed, a tinge of excitement in her voice; he just smirked and sat up.

"I didn't think we'd make it." He said and just started laughing again, it was weird to hear him laugh, maybe he was finally beginning to forgive himself for his past and get on with his life. Tikal smiled too and sat up and rested her head on his shoulder, he rubbed his nose against her head and hugged her around her shoulders.

"I am glad we made it..." She murmured and he nodded, they both stood up and looked around, everything looked green and everything that was green; looked a lighter green. The large trees, tropical plants and flowers, the water; all of it was green.

"The Master Emerald is this way." Tikal pointed off into the distance where the green glow was far stronger and brighter, Shadow nodded and they soon began to run through the few foot paths set there by either trespassers or the Guardian himself.

"Do you hear that?" he murmured and she looked around confused and just shrugged.

"I don't hear anything." She replied, they stood there for a moment to try and hear anything.

"Ma- ... Er- ... Erald.. Mas-... Er-.. Merald..." A monotone voice whispered from a location unknown around them.

"That." Shadow muttered and Tikal looked around for wherever the voice could have come from.

"Knuckles!" She said and Shadow looked ahead of them at the red echidna, there was something wrong; his eyes were glowing green. He stood just a few feet ahead of them and glared at the former spirit, he raised a hand and pointed to her.

"Cha-.. S... And-.. Po-.. Er-... Pri-.. Sss... Tik-... Lss... Hea-.. T..." He spoke in the strange monotone voice that they had heard earlier; Shadow stepped in front of Tikal and growled. "What's going on?" He asked and the Guardian just stood there, his eyes suddenly flashed from green to back to normal. "What?" He muttered and looked around and saw the two in front of him.

"Tikal! You can't be here! Chaos, he's-" Knuckles was cut short from his warning by a large wall of water going between them, the water came down on all of them and they were quickly washed away.

**Later**

Shadow awoke rather dizzy and as he tried to sit up, someone held his shoulders and forced him to lie down again. "Don't get up." It was Knuckles, but Shadow couldn't see anything, it was far too dark, he turned his head to his right and saw a cave exit; so he was in a cave. He could just barely see the Guardian standing near him and looking outside the cave.

"Where is Tikal?" Shadow muttered and looked up at the red echidna; he sighed.

"Chaos has her." He stated simply and sighed again.

"What?!" Shadow yelled and stood up, Knuckles looked at him and shook his head; Shadow fell silent for a moment. "She's not... Is she?" He asked.

"Dead? No.. Not yet." Knuckles muttered and crossed his arms.

"What do you mean by not yet?" Shadow growled; the echidna just shrugged.

"Something happened when Tikal was turned to normal, her gentle heart was disconnected from Chaos and his heart and hatred was unleashed again. No one can get rid of hatred, it's always there... But I guess I was hoping that Sonic actually did it..." He said and sighed yet again; Shadow looked outside the cave for a moment then, ran straight out.

"Wait!" He heard Knuckles yell after him, Shadow ignored him and continued running, everything was still a bright green and getting brighter with every step the black hedgehog took. He stopped at a wooden bridge and stared ahead of him, there was the Master Emerald shrine, a large whirlpool circled it with its fierce current but it was obvious that it wasn't normal water. He could only just see a bit of orange through the water.

"Tikal!" He yelled and ran across the creaking bridge, he got half way when a large roar screamed across the winds.

"Shadow!" He heard her voice, she was alright! He ran forward and the water roared and became far more fierce, Shadow wasn't scared by the large water creature and jumped straight at the wall of water, it repelled him and he landed back onto the bridge.

"No! Don't hurt him!" Tikal yelled from inside the wall and the wall suddenly disappeared, a puddle of water slithered beside her and took form; its brain was quite visible inside its head and its feet and hands were extremely large, it was Chaos. It growled in a strange gargled voice and She looked at it and shook her head, it took a step towards Shadow.

"You cannot! I.. I wont let you!" She stepped in front of it and held out her arms; Chaos stood still for a moment, then turned into a puddle and disappeared into the ground. Tikal turned around and looked for wherever the water creature could've gone, after a while; it seemed it had actually disappeared. Shadow ran up to her and quickly wrapped his arms around her and she gladly returned the hug.

"Don't ever do that again, you scared me." He muttered and she nodded; a few tears rolled down her cheeks as she hugged him closer. "I was scared... He said he was going to kill you..." She murmured and buried her face in his shoulder and continued to cry.

"Pri-... Ss... Tikaaaallll..."

They both gasped and looked across the wooden bridge, it was Knuckles; but his eyes were glowing green again.

"Chaos is controlling him!" Tikal yelled as 'Knuckles' ran towards them, Shadow let go of her and stepped back as 'Knuckles' swung his fist at him. "Is there anyway to stop him?" Shadow yelled and dodged yet another punch.

Tikal quickly nodded, "Yes!" She replied and began running up the stairs of the shrine to the glowing Master emerald at the top, she linked her hands and held them near her mouth. "The... Servers are the seven Cha- Chaos," She muttered and looked to Shadow to see him get punched and fall to the ground but quickly get back up, she drew her attention back to what she was doing and tried to concentrate. "Chaos is power... Power is-... Shadow!" Tikal turned to see 'Knuckles' throw another punch at Shadow but he was just at the edge and fell off; she ran down the stairs and stumbled a few times before running to the edge.

"Shadow!" She called and looked over the edge, he hit the water below with a huge splash erupting from the impact, she felt tears begin to well up in her eyes and was about to jump off the edge herself when somone grabbed her from behind.

"No! Shadow! Let me go!" She yelled and struggled.

"Are you kidding? That's suicide!" Knuckles yelled from behind her, so he was back to normal again.

"I do not care! I.. Shadow!" She cried and turned to the red echidna, he let go of her arm and stepped back, she fell to her knees and buried and face in her hands. Chaos stepped up in front of her...

**Somewhere**

The sound of birds were everywhere, all of them chirping with excitement, someone sat nearby but; didn't Shadow fall into the ocean?

"Hey! You're alive; just wait there I'll get Amy." An all too familiar voice said and the creature quickly ran off.

_'Amy? But isn't earth?...'_ Shadow thought and tried to murmured something but felt like he had swallowed a tonne of water, he was all wet and was lying on something soft with what felt like sand beneath it. A swift sound ran nearby and someone trotted over beside him.

"Hey Shadow, what happened? Can you speak?" Amy's voice asked and Shadow slowly opened his eyes, everything was a bit dim, like it was the afternoon or something. He was on a beach, the water splashed at the sand again and again, palm trees nearby russled in th soft wind.

"How long have I been here?" He finally managed to whisper and the pink hedgehog looked back at Sonic behind her and he shrugged. "Only an hour or so." He said rather carefree; as usual. Shadow sat up and instantly Amy reached forward to help him but he put up his hand and managed to stand up himself.

"What's going on? The whole earth was covered in water." He asked and Sonic pointed above them. "It still is." He stated and Shadow looked up, the sky wasn't there anymore, it was all water.

"What? How is that.." He stared up in awe, so that was why it looked like the afternoon.

"Chaos can control water; something happened on Angel island and Chaos just went balistic and well, as you can see..." Amy muttered and shrugged.

"I need to get back to the floating island! What is Chaos going to do to Tikal?!" Shadow yelled and didn't even care that Amy jumped back in fright, Sonic stepped in front of her. "Hey no need to yell; I don't think we have anyway to get through that." He crossed his arms and the black hedgehog growled, Sonic smiled.

"But; I know someone who should have something." He smirked, "That is... If you can still run." He said and Shadow frowned.

"Is that a challenge?" He asked.

"I don't know; is it?" Sonic muttered along with another question.

"Guys! Don't start fighting, get to Eggman's and steal one of his ships!" Amy stood between them and Sonic shrugged and turned and sped off, Shadow soon followed; Amy looked around for a moment then started chasing after them.

"Hey! Take me along too!"

**Angel Island**

Tikal was still crying and sat in front of the Master Emerald, she was back in her old clothes and didn't really care about that, nor about Knuckles who wanted to beat up Chaos for controlling him and making him kill Shadow. Chaos was standing beside her, he wasn't sure what he did wrong but as long as Tikal was there, everything was going to be alright.

"Do you think just because she's back everything will be alright?!" Knuckles stormed over to the water creature and threw his arms in the air; the creature replied with a few sounds of dripping water, "Wrong! If you haven't noticed! The whole Earth is covered in water! How can anyone survive that?!" He yelled and the creature just tilted its head and looked out to the view of the sea that it had created; it raised its hand and Knuckles watched in utter amazement as the water just vanished.

"Wh- What?" He muttered and then squinted at something in the distance, "Hey isn't that! Tikal! Look!" Knuckles yelled in a kinder manner than earlier and the echidna girl turned her head and saw something flying towards them at a mighty speed; something black was easily visible on the small plane.

"Shadow!" She smiled; tears still spilling down her cheeks and she quickly ran down near the edge of the island as the plane neared them ever so quickly. The black hedgehog leapt down and landed on the grass across the bridge, he quickly ran over to the front steps of the shrine and glared at Chaos at the top of the stairs. Tikal ran over to him and hugged him, he returned the hug but continued to glare at the water creature, she turned to look at Chaos as it walked over near them. It tilted its head and a few bubbling sounds sounded from it; after a while, Tikal walked over to it and whispered something and nodded and the creature looked at the ground and nodded.

Slowly, the Master Emerald's glow dimmed and the whole island went back to its original colour, Chaos seemed strangely disappointed at something as it turned and slowly walked back up the stairs to the Master Emerald; it held its hand out to the large Emerald and disappeared inside it.

"Um... What did it say?" Shadow asked after a long awkward silence, Tikal smiled and looked at him.

"He asked if this is what I wanted and... Should he go back to the Emerald." She said and Knuckles crossed his arms.

"And what did you say?" He asked and she giggled.

"Not telling!" She blushed and turned back to Shadow. "Come on, let's go home." She murmured and He nodded, "And on the way back you can tell me what happened." She smiled and he smirked. "Likewise."

They found their ship had crashed in the forest on Angel Island but it still worked alright and they managed to get it flying again; Shadow had set the controls on Auto-Pilot so they could tell each other what had happened.

**On the Ship**

Shadow was sitting on a small bed in a rather small room that was only for someone sleeping in there, another bed was on the other side of the room and Tikal was currently sitting on it with her legs hanging off the edge. They had already told each other of what had happened, except Shadow was still curious about something.

"What did you tell Chaos anyway?" He muttered and she giggled yet again; everytime he asked that, she giggled.

"You weren't insulting anyone were you?" He looked over to her and she grinned and shook her head; he sighed and looked up at the low ceiling. "Will you tell me?" He asked and she also looked at the ceiling and bit her lip.

"I cannot; it is embarrassing.." She muttered and he smirked.

"Oh it's that bad is it? Okay keep it to yourself." He laughed and she shook her head. "No.. It is just..." She trailed off and began fiddling with her skirt, she stood up and and sat down beside him and began to whisper something in his ear.

"I told him that if he was lonely, if he waits he will have new friends one day. He asked if they were little and well..." She blushed and stood up and walked out; Shadow stared after her...

'_What did she mean by that?'_ He thought and slowly something came into his head.

"Hey wait a minute! Are you talking about what I think you're talking about?!" He soon ran out after her and he could hear her childish laughter echo around the ship.

**Not as long as my previous chapters but oh well; did you enjoy it? I love it tehe. Oh and if there's any spelling mistakes, I'll fix them up ASAP.**


	4. The Test

**I should have like, a translator for what Chaos says but.. I don't want to! Tehe! Then it'd be to easy to understand the storyline! (Squeals!) I love Tikal!**

**Disclaimer: Sonic and all related characters do not belong to me.**

Two creatures approached the tall dark gothic gate, basically warning if anyone passed it; they would deserve whatever they got.

The female of the two stepped closer and placed her hand on her hip in an uninterested manner. It was Rouge the bat, well known thief and a secret agent of GUN. She placed her treasure scope over her right eye and observed the mysterious mansion beyond the gates.

"There might be treasure in there, I've heard that once you go in... You never come back out." She smirked seductively at her fellow treasure hunter; Knuckles the echidna stepped up beside her and crossed his arms. "Probably just a rumour or.. Are you scared?" He returned the smirk and she laughed.

"Me? Scared? You gotta be kidding me." She muttered and spread her wings, she flew up above the fence and stared at the building before them, nothing was going to creep out Rouge the bat. Nothing.

"I heard someone took a chaos emerald in there." She yelled to the echidna and he looked a bit more interested than earlier.

"And what if it isn't haunted? What if someone lives there; we'll be breaking in." He muttered and the bat smiled in the kind of way that told him she knew something he didn't.

"Now..." She placed her finger on her chin in thought as she hovered above the gate, "Who was the one who said _I_ was scared? Maybe you're really the scaredy cat!" She grinned and the echidna growled. "Anyway, I've checked the records on this place, there hasn't been anyone living in it for years!" She announced and flew to the other side of the gate, she landed softly and unlatched the simple old lock; the gate opened with a rather loud screeching sound and Rouge held her hands over her ears to block out the horrible racket. The gate finally stopped and there was only just enough room for the echidna to walk through, he didn't seem very bothered by the noise earlier and simply walked up beside the bat.

"Ladies first." He smirked and she huffed, "I'm no lady." She muttered and strode along the path to the mansion, Knuckles laughed and followed close behind. The path wasn't anything special, it was a dirt path with weeds growing around the sides and the occasional rebel that grew in the path, the whole yard was covered in weeds and long grass that was so long it reached up to Knuckles' waist.

"What's the point of going into this place anyway? It's only a house." Knuckles grumbled.

"Mansion." Rouge corrected and continued to the wooden veranda at the front of the house. "Anyway, there might be a chaos emerald in there."

"Might be? You dragged me here because there _might be_ a chaos emerald; this is a waste of time, how did you ever con me into this?" The echidna asked and stepped onto the first creaking step, the steps were rather large and there were only two of them that led onto a old worn oak floor.

"Okay, so my sources aren't always correct..." She glanced at him and approached the large front double-door, "But! I never say no to a challenge!" She announced and he rolled his eyes. "So this was a challenge?" He questioned and crossed his arms.

"No... But even if there isn't anything in there, at least we took a look." She muttered and reached for the knob.

"We?"

She looked back at him and tilted her head questionably. "Aren't you coming?" She asked and he thought for a moment and slowly shook his head, "No way, look; you have fun with this stupid mansion, I'm going home." He muttered and turned and began walking away, Rouge clenched her fist and pointed at him.

"You're just a chicken!" She yelled and he just raised his fist in a 'who cares' kind of manner and slight goodbye; she swore to herself and opened the large doors. "Fine! But if there is a Chaos Emerald in here; it's all mine!" She yelled to herself and strode inside the mansion; Knuckles had just gotten to the large gates and turned back and watched the large doors close behind the white bat.

"Fine... Be that way..." He muttered to no one in particular and was about to take one more step to out of the yard but a loud scream ran across the area from the mansion.

"Rouge!" He immediately turned back and ran towards the mansion, up the steps, opening the doors...

**One Week Later**

Once a month, Tikal would visit Chaos, to see how he was doing and if he was happy and taking good care of the chao.

"The Chao look very happy today." Tikal smiled as she sat on the steps of the Master Emerald Shrine next to the watery creature known as Chaos, they both watched seven normal Chao playing not too far away. Chaos nodded with a gurgling sound shortly after, she nodded.

"He is um... Taking it well." She giggled while covering her mouth to hide the obvious smile on her face, Chaos turned to look at the Master Emerald behind them and made a few more bubbling sounds.

"Hmm?" Tikal followed his gaze and soon a worried expression came across her face, "Chaos? Where is Knuckles?" She asked and the water creature just shook his head and turned back to watch the Chao, another bubbling sound came from him.

"With Rouge? Oh I remember her." She murmured and he continued with another few sounds of water, "To... Get a Chaos Emerald...? Where?" She continued and Chaos simply shrugged and pointed to one of the Chao and bubbled which probably meant that the Chao should know; Tikal stood up and walked over to the Chao and sat down in front of them.

"Good day Chao." She smiled and they all ran over to her with love hearts above their heads, she giggled and pet them all one by one, "Now; do any of you Chao know where Knuckles is?" She asked and all the Chao popped a question mark above their heads, one Chao on Tikal's left suddenly hit its fist with triumph and a explanation mark appeared atop its head; it flew over in front of Tikal and nodded. "Chao chao chao!" It chimed and raised its hand, it motioned her to follow it as it flew over to the edge of the island.

"Oh; please be careful." She murmured and walked up beside it; it pointed at the land below, a city was somewhere below and not too far away. "Knuckles went there?" Tikal asked and the Chao happily nodded, "Will you lead me to him?" She smiled and the Chao jumped up and down in joy, a definite yes.

**Somewhere around Angel Island**

The first few other times that Shadow and Tikal visited the island, they had crash-landed and Shadow had made the suggestion of putting a tele-porter there, he found a rather interesting cave and just finished making the tele-porter.

"There, no need for the ship now." He said, patting his hands together to get any dirt or small pieces of rocks off his gloves. The tele-porter was a bit of a bright colour, a circle of metal was on the ground with a control panel in front of it, it didn't look like much, but it would get them home in no time.

"Shadow!"

"...?" He turned to see Tikal standing in front of him, but they had barely been there for half an hour.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, he noticed the small Chao in her arms and raised an eye ridge in confusion. "We're not taking that thing home." He said and she giggled.

"No, of course not silly! Knuckles has gone missing and this little Chao knows where he is, can we go to Earth? Please?" She asked and he shrugged.

"Sure, why not? We can take the ship; it didn't crash too badly this time." He said and snickered, there was one time where they had directly hit a large tree and they had been stuck there for over a month. Shadow and Knuckles had a few issues during that time and Chaos and Tikal had to keep them from trying to beat each other to a pulp.

Their ship was a lot smaller than it used to be, there was heaps of old and destroyed robots left on Ark and he had made a small ship that was easy to pilot and a bit difficult to land but they hadn't gotten hurt yet with their landings.

**In the small Space Ship, on the way to Earth**

There were only two seats, Shadow sat at the controls and Tikal sat beside him with the Chao in her lap. The Chao pointed to the small town below and in no time, they were directly above it.

"Chao chao!" It smiled and continued to point below.

"Okay, hold on." Shadow smirked and Tikal held onto the Chao as they neared the ground. "We should find a better way to land!" She yelled and the Chao began to bounce around, it must of found it enjoyable in some way.

As every landing previously, they crash-landed. The ship was built especially for this sort of thing, so they were fine, just a bit dizzy.

"That was a.. Nice landing..." Tikal murmured, holding the Chao with one hand and her head with the other.

"Better than the last one I'd have to say." Shadow smirked and stepped out, the Chao happily hopped out and waved its hands in the air, Tikal came out, still holding her head.

"Chao chao!" The chao scurried over to her and yelled with a big smile still across its face, she nodded and looked to Shadow.

"It knows where Knuckles is," She crouched in front of the Chao and smiled, "Lead the way." She said and the Chao happily began running along a dirt road, Shadow stared after it with an odd look on his face.

"That's pretty fast... For a Chao that is." He muttered and she giggled and began following it.

The dirt road was deserted, grass and weeds freely grew on the sides of the road, large metal fences made it difficult to see what was beyond the properties and whether or not, the Guardian had been there.

The Chao stopped in front of a large dark gate, it was partially open. "Chao chao!" It pointed to a pathway leading to the mansion, Shadow was already stepping up to the gate and Tikal only just caught up. "You are a fast little Chao." She smiled and pet the Chao on the head, it jumped up and down in joy and stood at the side of the gate.

"Okay, Chao, you stay there and we'll go in and find out if Knuckles is in there." Shadow muttered and the Chao confirmed with a nod, Tikal walked up beside Shadow and they started walking along the small dirt path to the mansion. They approached the large doors and Shadow knocked on the door a few times, "Hello?" After around a few minutes, he knocked again... Still nothing.

He turned the knob and opened the large doors, they opened inwards and didn't creak at all, "Hello?" He repeated and took a few steps inside, he turned to Tikal. "I don't think anyone lives here." He murmured and she walked in a bit further, it was all dark, a old wooden staircase was in front of them, leading to the second floor. A fine oak door stood below the staircase, probably a closet. Large openings to the left and right lead to a very old lounge room and kitchen, Shadow walked to the centre of the room they were in, carefully looking around at the floor and ceiling.

"Hello?" He called out yet again.. Still no answer. Tikal walked over beside him, "Do you think; the Chao could have been wrong?" She muttered and he shrugged, "I don't know; maybe." He continued to look around a bit more then turned to the door, it suddenly shut tight on them with a loud slamming noise echoing all around them, Tikal jumped a bit and they both watched the door cautiously. They walked cautiously towards the door but suddenly, something grabbed both their feet, Tikal gasped as they started pulling them down a hole that suddenly appeared.

"Eahh!" She yelled as they were both dragged into the hole at an incredible speed, Shadow tried to see where they were headed, but couldn't see anything in the depths of the darkness.

Crack!

Thump!

She had landed first and he had fallen onto her on his back but quickly rolled off. "Rrr..." He groaned and struggled for air for a moment, he slowly got up on his knees and leaned over Tikal.

"Tikal. Tikal?" He shook her shoulder gently, she didn't move, but she was breathing. He sighed with relief, she had landed on her stomach, she didn't seem to have any bleeding wounds. He gently rolled her onto her back and finally took a glance around the room, although there wasn't much to gander at anyway, it was far too dark to see anything except for the small amount of light coming from the hole they had fallen from.

"Come on, I'll get us out of here." He murmured and carefully lifted up her head with his right hand, he quickly froze in place as he heard something coming closer to them.

"Who's there?" He growled, he pulled Tikal closer to himself protectively, but... It was not something threatening.. It was...

"Maria?" He stared wide-eyed at the human in front of him, it was Maria Robotnik, but that was impossible...

Shadow was about to stand up, but was aware of the echidna girl he held in his arms, he continued to stare at the human in front of him, she was glowing faintly. He began to shake.

"Tikal, I..." He looked at her peaceful features, then looked to his friend from long ago, he bit his lip. "I.. This.." Tears began to trickle down his cheek, why?

He closed his eyes and held Tikal closer, "Maria, you died... You are still my friend but... I cannot leave Tikal...

I love her." He muttered and after a while, he opened his eyes again, the room was suddenly well lit. It was a basement, a staircase lead to the main room. Shadow wiped away his tears and gently picked up Tikal, he walked up the stairs with caution, there was a door at the top, he opened it and found that it was the door that they had thought to be a closet. He didn't waste any time getting outside into the fresh air, he instantly picked up someone yelling with his skilled hearing.

"Fine! Be that way!" Rouge's voice yelled from over near the gate, Shadow quickly ran over to the gate and just caught a glimpse of the white bat flying away. Knuckles had his arms crossed and was walking away in the other direction rather quickly, Shadow quickly ran over to him.

"Hey! Where'd you two disappear to?" He asked, the Chao from earlier began following them; the red echidna looked at him then to Tikal.

"What happened to you is more like it?" He growled and quickened his pace, Shadow frowned and followed along the dirt road anyway, their ship was somewhere this way wasn't it?

**Around half an hour earlier, in the Mansion**

"Uh geez, I feel like I had a little too much to drink..." Rouge muttered as she awoke, Knuckles was laying on the floor beside her, he was already awake but holding his side, blood was seeping through his glove.

"Hey! Are you okay?" She covered her mouth with her hand and leaned over to have a closer look, "Does it hurt much?" she asked with just a bit of worry in her voice. The red echidna growled while sitting up, "I'm fine!" he grumbled and attempted to stand up but grunted as he fell to the floor again and slowly checked his leg, nothing, must have been the fall, but his legs were rather weak.

"It's nothing." He growled as she leaned closer to him, she placed her hand on her hip and rolled her eyes. "Don't pretend to be so tough, hmpth!" She crossed her arms but her eyes soon lit up as she saw something in front of them. A Chaos Emerald, it was silver.

Knuckles winced and held his side, Rouge looked between the emerald and the wounded Knuckles, she smirked. "My Emerald." She grinned and stood up, she strode over a few steps and quickly snatched the emerald from thin air. She looked back at the echidna and he frowned and looked into the darkness, her bat ears picking up something moving, like a mechanism or something.

The ceiling started to lower and Rouge swore.

"Cya Red!" She yelled and bolted up the stairway, Knuckles stared up at the ceiling, but it suddenly stopped. He hung his head and let his hands rest on the floor, anyone that knew of olden time things, knew this way some type of test of love, of course Knuckles hadn't known this until she had chosen the Chaos Emerald over him, then she left him to die...

"Gee, thanks bat girl..." He muttered; he didn't count her as a friend, more as another rival, but it still stung. He felt a tear roll down his cheek but quickly wiped it away with a frustrated growl, he didn't need anyone anyway...

**Aww! Poor Knuckles! That kind of touched my heart there, but I feel kind of stupid for repeating the test, oh well. Anyway, I'll be linking this story to Sonic Heroes and I better get around to going through the game with all the characters, so the next chapter is going to take a LONG time and will contain major spoilers of Sonic Heroes! That's going to take forever... Anyway, I'm very well aware of how I still have Sonic and Amy coupled, don't worry! I'll answer that!**

**This'll answer any confusion, anyone who entered the mansion, would get frozen in time, but when Shadow went in there... Well the energy of the Chaos emerald went a bit weird and the ghost couldn't control it any longer, therefore, Knuckles and Rouge had their test and got out just before Shadow and Tikal fell through, its all to do with timing... Haha timing! Haha.**


End file.
